Microwave vs traditional rice - which is cheaper

chefrichard

Although per gram traditional rice is generally cheaper than microwave rice.  What happens when you take the cooking cost into account?  Has anyone found / done a scientific type check on this?

For me the microwave rice seems to be good value for money.

skycatcher

Can't comment directly on your query but if you pre soak the rice you can drastically reduce its cooking time down to around 4 mins or so.

Newbie_John

I cook my rice in microwave for about 10 minutes - 800W.
The cost is about 5p.

250g Microwaveable Basmati costs 50p at Sainsbury's - but that's a wet rice, not sure what it would be without water? But let's say half, 125g. So, a 1kg of rice costs you here - £4.

Buying Basmati in bulk you can get it close to £1.30ish but you can buy cheapest 1kg for £1.80. So with cooking it would be about £2.

More or less, traditional rice costs half the price of microwaveable rice.

DullGreyGuy

First of all, how are you cooking the "traditional rice"? It too can be microwaved

Rosa_Damascena

DullGreyGuy said:

First of all, how are you cooking the "traditional rice"? It too can be microwaved

Pouch rice may appear convenient but it is a license to print money. A little forward planning (ie soaking the rice in the morning before heading off to work) and its cooked in minutes, whether on the hob or in the microwave. 

Mnoee

I cook 600g of rice at a time, portion and freeze because I like brown rice which takes about half an hour on the hob (or the same in a microwave with lots of faff, according to Google). You could do more, I just rarely have the freezer space. 

DigSunPap

For sure cheaper to buy traditional rice. Get much more bang for your buck and the packets of rice are only around 200g. You pay for the conveniency in using a microwave as opposed to cooking. Depends on your preference.